I assume most people watching this livestream
are Christians. If there’s anyone who’s not, that’s okay. We
welcome you. We’re glad you’re watching. But I assume most of you
are Christians. You have accepted Jesus Christ as the Savior.
And that’s great. But once we do that, there’s
another step we need to take. And that’s illustrated in our reading for
today.
The Apostle Peter is talking to a group of
Israelites. He tells them who Jesus is. He tells them that Jesus is
the Savior. And from the sound of things, they believe it. They’re
on board. They accept Jesus as the Savior.
And in response, they ask a question. It’s a question
that, once it’s asked, seems obvious. But too many times, we don’t think
to ask it. The question is this: “Brothers, what shall we do?”
What shall we do? Now that we know who Jesus is, now
that we know he’s the Son of God, now that we know he’s the Savior, now
what? What difference does it make? How are we supposed to live differently?
What are we supposed to do differently? What shall we do?
It’s an incredibly important question. If our belief
in Jesus Christ does not make a difference, what good is it? If our
accepting Jesus as the Savior does not change us, what good is it? If we
say Jesus is the divine son of God, but we remain the same people we were
before, what difference does our Christianity make?
The people of Israel asked an incredibly insightful
question. “Brothers, what shall we do?” But I suspect they were
totally stunned when they heard the answer.
When you ask what should I do, what are you looking
for? A list, right? You want to know, what are the things I need to
do. A, B, C. One, two three. Give me the list of things to
do. I’ll do them, I’ll check them off the list, and I’ll see the progress
I’m making. And once I get through the list, then I’ll know. I’ll
know I have salvation and eternal life.
But Peter says no. That’s not how it
works. What you need to do is two things. Repent, and be baptized.
We talk a lot about asking for forgiveness. We
probably don’t talk enough about needing to repent. It’s more than just
saying we’re sorry. A lot more. To repent means to feel deep regret
or remorse for what we’ve done. It means feeling so bad about what we’ve
done that we would give anything to have not done it. It’s a feeling that
we’re really not worthy of God’s forgiveness, but that we’re hoping, somehow,
that God will find it in His heart to forgive us anyway. And then, if
it’s true repentance, it’s a deep desire to change. It’s a determination
that, with God’s help, we will be different people, new people.
That’s why Peter says “repent and be baptized” in that
order. Now, if we’re talking about babies, this does not apply. Babies
have nothing to repent of, and they would not be able to repent if they wanted
to. But when we’re talking about adults, baptism means nothing without
repentance. We talk about baptism as one of God’s means of grace, and it
is, but if we don’t repent of our sins, God’s grace is not likely to come into
us. Not because God does not want us to feel God’s grace, but because if
we don’t repent of our sins, we’re basically refusing to accept God’s
grace. Again, that’s why repentance is more than just asking for
forgiveness. If we ask for forgiveness, but we don’t do anything to
actually change, then we have not repented of anything. We’re not going
to be different people. We’re not going to be new people. We’re
going to stay the same people we were before. If we’re not determined to
change, baptism is meaningless.
So that’s what Peter told the people of Israel when they
asked what they should do. Repent and be baptized. But here’s the
most important thing. Peter says, here’s what’s going to happen if you
repent and are baptized. You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We’re not told what the people’s response was to
that. I wonder if they really understood what it meant. For that
matter, I wonder if we understand what it means, either.
Of the three persons of the trinity, the Holy Spirit is the
one most of us understand the least. We can understand the Son, Jesus
Christ, at least to some extent. We don’t understand everything about
him, but he walked on the earth just like you and I do. We can picture
him. We have some of the words he said. We know some of the things
he did. We can even understand God the Father, a little bit. God
the Father is the Creator. God the Father created the entire universe out
of nothing. And we have some of the words of God the Father, too, at
least as they come to us through the prophets.
But the Holy Spirit? What’s that? Well, the
Holy Spirit is--a Spirit. A Holy one. But what does that actually
mean?
It means everything. It means that we truly can
become that different person, that changed person, that we want to be when we
truly repent of our sins. When we repent, the Holy Spirit is, as the
Bible says, poured out onto us. We receive the Holy Spirit into our
hearts. And it’s the Holy Spirit that actually changes us.
Have you ever tried to make a significant change in your
life? Most of us have, to one extent or another. How did it go?
I don’t know your experiences, but I can tell you about
mine. When I’ve tried to change myself on my own, without the help of the
Holy Spirit, it has not worked. I may change for a while, but eventually
I go back to the way I was. Maybe I make slight progress, but I don’t
make a significant change.
You know why? Because, when I try to make changes on
my own, without the Holy Spirit, I do exactly what the people of Israel were
expecting Peter to tell them to do. I’m making a checklist. I’m
thinking, I need to do more of this. I need to do less of that. I
need to start doing something else. I’m looking at faith as a list of
things to do. That’s not how Peter said to look at it. It’s not how
Jesus ever said to look at it, either.
When we accept the gift of the Holy Spirit, then we can
change. Because the Holy Spirit does not give us a list of things to
do. The Holy Spirit gives us a changed heart. The Holy Spirit gives
us a desire to serve God. The Holy Spirit gives us a desire to be
faithful to God. The Holy Spirit helps us feel love for God in our
hearts. The Holy Spirit gives us a desire to show our love for God by
showing love to our neighbors. And of course, the most loving thing we
can do for our neighbors is to strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ, or to
help bring them to faith if they don’t have it.
When you think about it, that’s
where change really starts. Change does not come from the mind. It
does not come from an act of will. That’s involved in it, but really,
change comes from the heart. A heart that’s filled with the Holy Spirit
is a heart that’s changed. And once that change takes place, once we
allow ourselves to be led and guided by the Holy Spirit, the things to do will
fall into place. We won’t need a checklist any more. The Holy
Spirit will show us what to do. All we need to do is have the courage and
the determination to follow.
That’s why Peter called it “the
gift of the Holy Spirit”. To receive the Holy Spirit really is just
that. It’s a gift. It’s a gift in a lot of ways, but one of the
main ones, is that it frees us. And one of the things it frees us from
trying to earn our way into heaven by the things we do. We could never do
that, because we would never know when we’d done enough. But when we’re
saved by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, we receive that gift of
the Holy Spirit. And then, we won’t have to worry about what it is we
should do. The Holy Spirit will tell us and show us what to do. And
the Holy Spirit will give us the wisdom and the courage to do it.
Have you ever had times when
you felt like you were really in tune with the Holy Spirit? When you felt
like you were where God wants you to be, doing what God wants you to do.
I suspect most of you have. It’s a great feeling, right? It’s a
feeling of confidence. It’s a feeling of assurance. It’s complete
freedom from worry. When we’re in tune with the Holy Spirit, what could
there be to worry about? God has it handled. It’s an awesome thing.
Do we still slip back sometimes? Sure. We
remain flawed, imperfect people. Our own selfish desires still get in our
way. But there’s a cure for that, and you probably know what it is.
Prayer. We need to pray every day. And it needs to be a heartfelt
and sincere prayer. A prayer where we open our hearts to God, and repent
of our sins, and ask for God’s Holy Spirit to be poured out onto us. A
sincere prayer like that is one that God will always answer.
It’s great to accept Jesus as the Savior. But when we
accept Jesus, we need to repent of our sins and receive the incredible gift of
God’s Holy Spirit. Then, we can truly be worthy of the name Christian.
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